Girls lacrosse two steps closer

The Weston girls lacrosse team had two games last week and needed both wins to help the Lady Wildcats find their way into the tournament.

Whitney Trook/Kelsey Nickerson/Sports Correspondents

The Weston girls lacrosse team had two games last week and needed both wins to help the Lady Wildcats find their way into the tournament.On Tuesday, May 1, the Wildcats traveled to Westford to play the Grey Ghosts for the second time this season. The Wildcats knew they would have to come in strong and wanted a big win seeing that they only won by one goal last time they played Westford Academy.``Westford Academy has always been a scrappy team, so I knew that this would be a challenging game for us, especially since lately we seem to be playing down to the other team's level of play,'' said Weston head coach Kelly Trahon.Westford scored four unanswered goals in the first 10 minutes of the game. Weston was able to hold the Grey Ghosts to one more goal in the first half as well as scoring four goals to make it 5-4 Westford at the half.Weston took the lead early in the second half, scoring three unanswered goals to make the score 7-5, and carried the lead from then on. The final score was 12-9, Weston with the win.Seniors Carly Leahy and Ellen McCurdy both helped out on the attacking end of this game. Leahy had four goals and two assists. ``Carly did a tremendous job controlling the draws, she had a game high of seven draw controls,'' said Trahon.Junior Courtney Davenport was a lead scorer for Weston with her five goals. ``Courtney played a phenomenal game, she was instrumental in regaining the lead for Weston,'' explained Trahon. Junior Bridget McCurdy had two assists, and sophomore Kelsey Nickerson had one goal.For the Wildcats defense Senior Sarah Wheeler had five caused turnovers and two ground balls. Also Junior Merry Batter had five caused turnovers, two ground balls, and two draw controls. ``Sarah really stepped up her level of play in this game and helped the defense raise their intensity, and Merry did a great job controlling Weston's transition,'' said Trahon.The Wildcats pulled out with a well-fought win and were pleased coming back with this big of a win after the last time they had played Westford. ``I was proud of my players for digging themselves out of the huge hole that had been made for them in the first half. My defense played exceptionally as a team, which is something that we have been struggling with in the past,'' said Trahon after the game.On Friday, the team had its first home night game against archrival Wayland. Many fans came to support and cheer on the girls as they played. The last time the team had played Wayland, it had been up 9-4 at the end of the first half.``We ended up letting them back in the game, and lost with 25 seconds left of the clock. I was confident that my players had learned from this mistake and wouldn't let it happen again. Weston hasn't beaten Wayland (in girls' lacrosse) in the past four years, so we were due for a win,'' said Trahon before the game.Early in the game, Weston took the lead, scoring three unanswered goals against the visiting Warriors. Wayland came back with a quick goal off the draw, but Weston answered back quickly with two more goals, making the score 5-1.As the players came off at the half, Weston had held its own, leaving the score 10-5.In the second half, Weston continued to widen the scoring gap, making it 13-5 before Wayland was able to score again. The final score ended at 16-9, a convincing win for Weston and a great upset for Wayland.On attack this game, Ellen McCurdy led the scorers with five goals and an assist. Trahon said, ``Ellen had an unbelievable game, you could tell that she wasn't going to let Weston lose this game.''Also on attack, Davenport had three goals and an assist and Leahy had three goals. Phoebe Plank had two goals and an assist.``I was really impressed with Phoebe's redefending on attack, she played with a lot of heart,'' said Trahon.Bridget McCurdy had one goal and two assists. Kristie Oberg and Batter each had a goal as well.On the Wildcats' defense, Sarah Wheeler and Whitney Trook helped out with midfield transition and each had three ground balls each.``Merry Batter had another great game,'' said Trahon. ``She had three caused turnovers and three draw controls (as well as her first goal of the season).''The Wildcats' goalie, Cyana Chilton, had an incredible game. She set her season high this game with 10 saves against Wayland.After the game, the Wildcats ran to their goalie to congratulate her and each other on an amazing win. The girls played with a lot of heart and truly showed that they wanted to win no matter what.Trahon said, ``Weston played for a full 50 minutes, which is a big accomplishment since lately we've been only a one-half team. Collectively, the defense had a tremendous game. And my attack, for once, did not let up on the scoring, which is a big step for us. The girls now know that if they bring their A game and play for a full 50 minutes, they can compete with any team.''The season is well under way and these past two wins helped the girls along to help make their way to the tournament. During the upcoming week, the Wildcats will play at Newton South on Tuesday, at home on Thursday vs. L-S, and home vs. Duxbury on Saturday. This is a big week coming up as both L-S and Duxbury are top teams in the state.